Anheuser-Busch InBev Makes $1.28 Billion Profit in Q4

In FY09, the company gained or maintained market share in markets representing approximately 70% of its total beer volumes. Revenue rose 2.5% in FY09 and 5.1% in 4Q09, with revenue per hl up 4.5% in FY09 and 4.1% in 4Q09.

5 Mar 2010 --- Anheuser-Busch InBev has reported that total FY09 volumes decreased 0.7%, with own beer volumes down 0.8% and soft drink volumes up 2.7%. In 4Q09, total volumes increased 1.0%, with own beer volumes up 0.8%, and soft drink volumes up 3.4%

FY09 Focus Brand volumes grew 1.9% led by Antarctica, Brahma and Skol in Brazil, the Bud Light family in Canada, Budweiser and Harbin in China, and Stella Artois in the UK. In 4Q09 Focus Brand volumes grew 2.6%

In FY09, the company gained or maintained market share in markets representing approximately 70% of its total beer volumes. Revenue rose 2.5% in FY09 and 5.1% in 4Q09, with revenue per hl up 4.5% in FY09 and 4.1% in 4Q09.

Cost of Sales (CoS) for FY09 decreased 3.4% overall and 1.1% per hl as the company benefited from procurement efficiencies, synergy programs and favorable transactional currency impacts. In 4Q09, CoS fell 0.3%, or 1.2% per hl. Operating expenses fell 2.5% in FY09, while greater investments in brand building led to a 5.2% increase in 4Q09. The company achieved synergies of 1 110 million USD for FY09, with 235 million USD delivered in 4Q09

FY09 EBITDA grew 16.6% to 13 037 million USD, with EBITDA margin of 35.5% compared to 30.8% in FY08 on a combined basis, up 415 bp organically. 4Q09 EBITDA rose 11.5% to 3 105 million USD with a margin of 33.4%, an organic improvement of 179 bp

Normalized profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev of 3 927 million USD in FY09 compares with 2 511 million USD in FY08 on a reported basis, and 877 million USD in 4Q09 compares to 427 million USD in 4Q08 on a reported basis

Normalized profit from operations excludes non-recurring gains of 1 321 million USD in FY09 and 1 003 million USD in 4Q09, primarily reflecting capital gains on the company´s Central European and South Korean business disposals, respectively

FY09 and 4Q09 normalized profit excludes non-cash 145 million USD of accelerated accretion expenses and 484 million USD of mark-to-market adjustments for hedges no longer effective.

Management comments were, “As a result of our 2009 operating performance and the completed disposal program, we have enhanced financial strength to pursue our Dream. We entered 2009 with net debt to EBITDA close to 5.0 and now exit the year at 3.7. We achieved this reduction through a combination of over 9 billion USD of cash flow from operating activities and overachievement of our commitment to generate 7 billion USD of proceeds from divestitures. On 26 February 2010 we announced that we had obtained 17.2 billion USD in long-term bank financing enabling us to fully refinance the original 54 billion USD senior acquisition facilities in less than 16 months from closing. The new credit facilities allow us to further extend our debt maturities while building additional liquidity, thus enhancing our credit profile as evidenced by the improved terms under the facilities, which do not include financial covenants. We will continue our journey towards the below 2.0x net debt to EBITDA leverage target which remains an ongoing top priority for our Company.

“The disposal program is behind us and we will now focus all our attention on growing the core business. We will raise the performance bar globally, sharing best practices from around the world, while capturing the benefits of best-in-class quality control, community relations and heritage-based brand building that long characterized Anheuser-Busch.”